Thousands of damaged trees remain in the wake of last month’s EF-3 tornado that ripped a 21-mile-long path of destruction through Clayton and St. Louis City. In the weeks since May 16, tree-removal teams have worked tirelessly to extract downed trees and other immediate hazards. But what can homeowners expect for the future health of trees that remain standing?
The decision to remove a damaged tree is carried out on a case-by-case basis, says Mike Sestric, owner of Trees, Forests and Landscapes in Kirkwood. Teams of arborists will begin by inspecting individual trees, searching closely for signs that they are at risk of collapse, including lifting of the ground around the tree (indicating root loss or breakage) and splitting in the trunk. Following an assessment of damage, and depending on the level of risk, homeowners choose to either keep the tree or have it taken down.
Get a weekly dose of home and style inspiration
Subscribe to the St. Louis Design+Home newsletter to explore the latest stories from the local interior design, fashion, and retail scene.
A tree in a park whose potential collapse would only pose a threat to surrounding trees would be more likely to be left standing than one that’s likely to land on a home were it to fall. Talking about risk assessment, Sestric says: “If you’re losing sleep over a tree that’s pretty beat up, it’s a tough thing to say as an arborist, but take it down.”
Trees with severe or intermediate damage will be revisited, typically within a year, for a second inspection, Sestric says. From that point, it can be determined whether the tree shows promise in its recovery and should remain standing, or if it isn’t recovering well and should therefore come down.
One key factor in determining whether a tree is, or is not likely, to return to its pre-storm state is its age. Younger trees that lose parts of their canopy can generally be restored and continue growing with TLC. However, many older trees struggle to rebound simply as a result of being later in life. Just as teenagers are more likely than those in middle age to recover swiftly from an injury, younger trees have better odds than middle-aged trees when it comes to making a full post-storm recovery.
The type of injury suffered by a tree also adds to its future prognosis. Sestric says branches and limbs that break off cleanly tend to heal well, while wounds like punctures and bark loss take longer.
“If we have a small cut, a nice, clean cut, it heals very quickly,” says Sestric. “If a tree gets a wound where it’s cut cleanly, it heals very well. But if we bang up our knuckles, we skin it, it keeps getting moved, it’s not a clean cut and it takes forever to heal. Same way with a tree.”
While circumstances are unique, Sestric says people may be surprised by how well some trees rebound. Soft wooded trees, like sweetgums, silver maples, and red maples, tend to quickly resprout and begin growing back lost limbs and branches.
“Trees have survived tornadoes a lot longer than people have, so they have some natural responses,” Sestric says.
